I love the Fed IV!!

[tealseal]

I love the shadow lines I can get on this dark brown one. Thinking about trying one in Tawny Fawn - if I don’t order a new suit.

IMHO, a Tawny Fawn Federation (the one I have) looks GREAT with a earthtone summer suit. Get both?

My Fed IV has been re-purposed. Since it's an Akubra, I figured it could take the challenge of being an outdoor/hiking hat. I refrained from testing my theory, because it was (until last Saturday), my only wide-brimmed hat. Now that I have an open road, it was time.
My Fed and I went to Sedona, AZ, to climb the Bear mountain trail. Temperature at the top was 100F; I kept the liner in my hat and let the hat get richly soaked in sweat. The results?
This hat is amazing! Within 20 minutes I was able to see sweat on the ribbon, as well as running down the side of the hat. I brushed trees, knocked it against rocks, and the hat never quit. It now feels better than ever! The crown (after repeated removals to wipe my forehead), has maintained its shape without any obvious degradation of the felt at the pinch (where I grabbed it).
Here are the pictures of the liner and the brim; I actually like the stains - shows the hat has some character. Not for every hat, but for this purpose, I love it.

 

[Kirk H.]

[/IMG]

I love mine and I think it also goes good with darker suits too.

 

[tealseal]

Hi Loungers,

Has anyone had luck rolling up their Fed IV? I recall that somewhere Indycop (I think) managed to remove the reed so it would roll, but with the Powell and some of Art's hats being rollable/packable with reeds in, I was wondering if the reed in the FIV would take it.

 

[DJH]

Tealseal, I'd agree that you probably need to take out the reed to roll the Fed IV.

I don't have one myself, but I seem to recall from the IndyGear forums that the Fed has a metal reed which can get kinked if you try and roll it up. A lot of modern hats have the reeds made of synthetic material (maybe nylon?) which is more flexible.

If you are a member of the COW (IndyGear) forum go over there and see if you can find the thread about removing the reed - those guys call it "the wire" - from the Fed IV.

 

[jlee562]

David is correct, the reed in the Fed is a wire and it WILL kink up and essentially ruin it if you try to roll it. It is possible to remove it, let me see if I can dig up some info on COW when I get home.

 

[scottyrocks]

I did a smooshing of my Fed IV to generally loosen it up, and the reed is kinked in several places. I can only imagine how bad it would be if I had rolled it.

 

[fenris]

Due to the rainstorms we've been experiencing here in my neck of the woods, I've resurrected my FedIV! It keeps me dry and is still holding up pretty well.

 

[job]

I recently bought the Akubra Federation IV and did not think I would be wearing it for some time. I like that the moonstone grey is darker than some pics I've seen and that the dimensional brim is only noticed if you pull the brim way down. I don't care about the Indy thing so I did not try and copy any movie hat. I must say that I like this hat better than I thought I would. This is a rainy day photo.

 

[Wolfwood]

Got to wear my Fed Deluxe IV when interviewed by a journalist today (about traffic culture - in Finnish). The pic is taken from the other side of the street and is quite small (although you can click on it to zoom in), but I'm still happy for having had my favourite hat on me.

http://yle.fi/uutiset/mina-mina-mina_ajelee_autollansa/6269286#

Interestingly enough, just when I arrived to the meeting, there were kids being led by their kindergarten teacher past me and the small boys started gasping and shouting to each other when they saw "Intiana Jones" walking past them...

 

[bowlerman]

That's great! nice shot, nice hat!

 

[tealseal]

David is correct, the reed in the Fed is a wire and it WILL kink up and essentially ruin it if you try to roll it. It is possible to remove it, let me see if I can dig up some info on COW when I get home.

I'd appreciate it. My Fed is my travelling hat, and as such I'd really like it to have the ability to withstand packing a bit better.

 

[jlee562]

I'd appreciate it. My Fed is my travelling hat, and as such I'd really like it to have the ability to withstand packing a bit better.

Mea culpa, I forgot I was supposed to do that!

Found two posts that seem to indicate a fairly easy operation:

You can always remove the wire. I did that when I got the same hat. Just clip it with a pair of small side cutters at the back of the sweatband by the bow. Then, pull out the wire with pliers.

I believe Michaelson is a great fan of this approach.

Harry.

From Michaelson, one of the COW mods:

Knower of Things
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jun 25, 2002 9:55 am
Posts: 34581
Location: Out here knowing things....and stuff...
You can remove the wire with a pair of needlenose pliers. Just get hold of one end of the wire and slowly pull it out. Make sure you clear the end that may be 'hooked' to hold the two ends together. Otherwise, it is easy to slowly remove.

The wire is there to hold the shape of the sweatband.

I've done this in the past with no problem. You may find the hat much more comfortable to wear too. I know I did.

Regards! Michaelson

 

[m0nk]

Yeah, I remember that was a pretty long portion of the Fed IV thread on COW. A lot of members there are in favor of removing it. I haven't yet on either of mine simply because it hasn't come up, though should I need to...

 

[jlee562]

Yeah, it was never an issue for me, although my hat is stored away in the box, and I don't care for the Indy "turn."

 

[B.J. Hedberg]

My new black Federation arrived in the mail yesterday. With the help of a 2 1/4” washer, an old white colored pencil, some sandpaper, and the hatshaper I turned it more into a hat of my liking. The Fed is pretty straight sided, but after a night of drying and shrinking around the hatshaper, it’s even better.

The ribbon was pinned too high, so I cut it loose, and then made a new bow from the ribbon off my old moonstone Fed. My first attempt wasn’t very good, but it still looks better than the factory one. Wish I had some good ribbon; a two piece one would be far better than a three piece.

Gave it a rather off-center organic diamond bash. Black is pretty formal, but I still wanted to have fun with it.

And a better shot of the shape of the hat, still wet and dusty in this photo. 100% better than my old black Biltmore; best brim-trimming I’ve done yet; and the shape is better than anything I’ve gotten on my other two Feds. Still need to work on the brim a bit, but overall I’m very pleased with this one. It will make a great hat for the winter.

 

[XB234C]

Greetings! I am new here and didn't want to backread 112 pages to see if the answer to my question is contained within the previous pages. I am thinking about getting an Akubra since Christy's just folded and am looking at the Fed IV in Carbon Grey. Does anyone else have one? The pic they have in stock looks almost black. If that is the case, I will go Moonstone Grey. I am paranoid all the great hat makers are going to fold in this economy (Miller's Hats went belly up also this year) and want to get a durable long lasting hat before all that is left for fedora choices is Target. Thanks.

 

[gtdean48]

Greetings! I am new here and didn't want to backread 112 pages to see if the answer to my question is contained within the previous pages. I am thinking about getting an Akubra since Christy's just folded and am looking at the Fed IV in Carbon Grey. Does anyone else have one? The pic they have in stock looks almost black. If that is the case, I will go Moonstone Grey. I am paranoid all the great hat makers are going to fold in this economy (Miller's Hats went belly up also this year) and want to get a durable long lasting hat before all that is left for fedora choices is Target. Thanks.

My advice is go with Moonstone. It is one versatile color. From all comments I've read, Carbon Grey is very dark. I have Moonstone in my customized Fed4 as well as a Campdraft Deluxe = one color that I don't mind having in multiple styles...

 

[bowlerman]

The washer is a great idea, B.J.! Wish I had thought of that before I gave a little asymmetrical trim to one of my westerns. Looks good. Christy's folded too?

 

[Benzadmiral]

Greetings! I am new here and didn't want to backread 112 pages to see if the answer to my question is contained within the previous pages. I am thinking about getting an Akubra since Christy's just folded and am looking at the Fed IV in Carbon Grey. Does anyone else have one? The pic they have in stock looks almost black. If that is the case, I will go Moonstone Grey. . . . Thanks.

Yes, Carbon Grey is quite dark -- indoors it comes close to black, though I can easily distinguish between the hat color and that of the black ribbon. Outdoors it's clearly not black. The Moonstone is more medium-gray with a bluish hint. Here's my customized Moonstone, pic taken indoors:

I don't have a shot of my Carbon Grey. Here is my Borsalino Savoy, which is about the same shade:

 

[XB234C]

The washer is a great idea, B.J.! Wish I had thought of that before I gave a little asymmetrical trim to one of my westerns. Looks good. Christy's folded too?

Yup. Toast.